Hezbollah claims responsibility for blast that injured Israeli soldiers

JERUSALEM (JTA) — Hezbollah claimed responsibility for an explosion near Lebanon’s border with Israel that injured four Israeli soldiers while on patrol.

Hezbollah leader Hassan Nasrallah said Wednesday in a television interview that the attack was “an intended operation and did not happen by coincidence.”

“This operation will not be the last; whenever we feel that the Israelis have entered Lebanese soil, we will act appropriately. We will cut the feet that violate Lebanese territory,” Nasrallah said, according to the Al-Monitor Middle East news website.

The four soldiers crossed the border between 20 feet and 500 feet inside Lebanon, according to reports.

Nasrallah said the bomb was placed in an area that Israeli soldiers are known to pass through. After the first bomb was detonated and other Israeli soldiers gathered to help the injured, a second bomb was detonated, causing further injuries, he said.

The admission could signal a new threat to Israel on its northern border, which has been largely quiet since the month-long Second Lebanon War in 2006.